Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired America's Founding Fathers | Historical Book on British & American Revolutions | Perfect for History Enthusiasts & Students

Late 17th century England. A time that totaly shapes what later becomes The United States. It defines what we became & are today. The English Revolution ended the era of Divine Right of Kings. 1688-89 brought the ascendency of the legislature & elected representation in England. Michael Barone has done a remarkable job covering an era that I think has been somewhat neglected. This book is useful for the scholar & history enhusiast alike. This story begins with the civil war & the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy was abolished & replaced with the dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell & son. The monarchy was restored by 1660 in the person of Charles II. Religion was everything especially the religion of the sovereign. Since Charles had no rightful heirs the crown past to his brother, upon his death, James II, in 1685. Charles faith was not an issue, But James was a devout Catholic while most Englishmen were Protestant. Plus the fact that James was a tyrant created a crisis. James was mindful that his father had been beheaded when James was a teenager. In 1688 he abdicated & fled to Catholic France. What followed was a Parliament acendency. Laws, a constitution, if you will, were past creating a new era of elected representatives, liberty, capitalism & relgious toleration. The blowback from all of that was felt in the colonies. Mary, daughter of James became Queen. Her husband, William was Standholder of Holland. He became William III, King of England. All the new restrictions created by Parliament on the monarchy were accepted by William. He was a Dutchman, in Holland where there had existed a much more tolerant culture. The biggest new restriction was the pursestrings. William had to go to Parliament for money. It appears through history that Parliament has been quite generous. It was also decreed that the sovereign could never again be Catholic. That only became problematic in 1714 when George, Elector of Hanover became George I. He was 28th in line. He didn't speak a word of English & didn't even Like London much but by golly he was Protestant. That ushered in a century plus of very prolific Georges. A feature of the Glorious Revolution which makes it diferent from other western civilization revolutions was it's bloodlessness. We are all aware of the horrors of the French & Russian revolutions. Our own American Revolution was very bloody. There has been a lot of material on the 16th century of Henry VIII, Bloody Mary & Elizabeth. Lots out there on the 18th century empire as well. This is a great addition to the 17th.